News In Brief

February 23, 2001

By Compiled from wire service reportsRobert Kilborn and Judy Nichols

Efficient Networks Inc., a leading maker of high-speed Internet connections, said it has agreed to be acquired by German electronics and engineering giant Siemens AG for $1.5 billion. Efficient Networks, which counts America Online among its customers, is based in Dallas.

"About 5,000" workers have been placed on unpaid leave for up to three weeks by the electronics division of Tyco International, The Wall Street Journal reported. The furloughs, to accommodate for slackening demand, affect plants in California, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, a spokeswoman said. But the Exeter, N.H.-based conglomerate does not plan permanent job cuts, she said.

In major layoff news:

Over the next three years, ABN Amro, the largest bank in the Netherlands, will cut 6,700 jobs and eliminate 200 branches under a decision to speed up a restructuring plan, the company said.

Due to increased costs and competition, Qantas, Australia's largest airline, announced plans to cut its workforce by 1,470 employees by September and discontinue service to Canada and China.

Two thousand jobs were expected to be eliminated by 2003 as a result of the newly announced merger between two Swedish banks, Foereningssparbanken and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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